Erik Prince Running From The Justice Department?

There are now three independent sources that are saying Blackwater founder and mercenary-criminal-extraordinaire Erik Prince is getting ready to leave the the country for Dubai. Why you ask? His inner circle is about to be charged by the Justice Department for their nefarious ways and it seems Mr. Prince is trying to outwit those that may want to hold him accountable for the crimes of Blackwater.



Now the question is, will Attorney General Holder stand for this? Time to get smart Mr. Holder.

Blackwater USA Expands Their Operations In The U.S.A.

If you thought the mercenary company's behavior was bad in Iraq, just imagine the type of "security" they'd provide here at home:

State Dept. Panel Makes The Right Call On Blackwater

Here's a bit of good news coming from Washington today. After years of enduring incompetence, cost overruns and multiple murders by Blackwater USA, decision-makers are finally understanding how bad the mercenary companies are. Although it isn't official policy yet, the agency has determined that, surprise, Blackwater should not be dealt with.

From TPM:

A senior official familiar with a report commissioned by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told the AP on Wednesday that the panel has called for Blackwater's contract not to be renewed when it expires next year. A decision on the recommendation will be left to the Obama administration, which will be in place when the contract comes up for renewal in the spring.

Rice ordered a review of the department's use of private security firms last September after an incident in which Blackwater guards killed 17 Iraqis in Baghdad. Five guards have been indicted on manslaughter and other charges stemming from that incident. The company was not implicated.

It is not clear how the State Department would replace Blackwater if the recommendation is accepted. The department relies heavily on private contractors, including Blackwater, to protect diplomats in Iraq as its own security service does not have the manpower or equipment to do so.

Well, they could invest more in the military and enlist more soldiers with better wages instead of giving such enormous amounts of business to private contractors. These mercenaries have had little accountability these past five years and (at least at the moment) have gotten away with murder, among other things. It's great that the State Dept. is getting ready to do this, and that it will not be Bush, but Obama's decision to make in a few short months.

Blackwater Saga Will Continue: Pentagon Looks The Other Way For Mercenary Group

For reasons beyond the realm of common sense, the Pentagon has decided to renew the contract for Blackwater to maintain their operations (and cash flow) in Iraq. Despite numerous abuses and allegations, this private contractor mercenary group will continue to leech off of American taxpayers and take jobs that should be reserved for our soldiers. Instead, some Blackwater agents use their 'contractor' status to override our own military forces in humiliating fashion, though still not as bad as how they try to win the hearts and minds of Iraqis. All in all, this is just a bad deal.

From The Huffington Post:

Blackwater provides security for diplomats in Baghdad, where the sprawling U.S. Embassy is headquartered. Its private guards act as bodyguards and armed drivers, escorting government officials when they go outside the fortified Green Zone.

Iraqis were outraged over a Sept. 16 shooting in which 17 Iraq civilians were killed in a Baghdad square. Blackwater said its guards were protecting diplomats under attack before they opened fire, but Iraqi investigators concluded the shooting was unprovoked.

An FBI probe began in November. Prosecutors want to know whether Blackwater contractors used excessive force or violated any laws.

The State Department's top security officer, Greg Starr, told reporters Friday that because the FBI is still investigating the shootings, there is no justification now to pull the contract when it comes due in May.

Blackwater has a five-year deal to provide personal protection for diplomats, and its contract is reauthorized each year. The decision announced Friday extends Blackwater's deal for the third year.

Here's an idea, why not pull these operations in-house. Why do we need to pay private companies to protect diplomats? If we as a nation are held accountable in the court of world opinion, then we should be fully responsible for protecting people who are on diplomatic missions in the hell that is Iraq. I know this wouldn't make some people who are close to the Pentagon (like Erik Prince) as wealthy as he is today, but too f**king bad, our military should not be about enriching a few war profiteers.

Blackwater Is Now Officially A Disease

Rhetorically speaking, Blackwater USA has been a disease spawned by the greedy Military-Industrial complex in our country and has been unleashed on population of Iraq and our soldiers that serve there. They have caused death and destruction that can never be repaired. Basically, they suck. Now however, Blackwater is officially a medical term to describe a deadly fever by Iraqi doctors.

From IPS News:

"This disease is a severe form of malarial infection caused by the parasite plasmodium falciparum, which is considered the worst type of malarial infection," Dr. Ali Hakki from Fallujah told IPS. "It is one of the complications of that infection, and not the ordinary picture of the disease. Because of its frequent and severe complications, such as Blackwater fever, and its resistance to treatment, P. falciparum can cause death within 24 hours."

What Iraqis now call Blackwater fever is really a well-known medical condition, and while it has nothing to do with Blackwater Worldwide, Iraqis in al-Anbar province have decided to make the connection between the disease and the lethal U.S.-based company which has been responsible for the death of countless Iraqis.

The disease is most prevalent in Africa and Asia. The patient suffers severe intravascular haemolysis -- the destruction of red blood cells leading to kidney and liver failure. It also leads to black or red urination, and hence perhaps the new name 'Blackwater'.

So the fever may not be named specifically for the mercenary group but it is still very appropriate considering the reality of Blackwater Worldwide and their effect on Iraq. I wonder if they can come up with something particularly nasty for Erik Prince? Maybe one of the ten plagues or the latest variation of Ebola.

A Win For California, Blackwater Loses In Potrero

Today was a busy day in politics, despite it being a Saturday. Barack Obama pulled off a six to four victory in Wyoming (with one county pending as of this moment, but it will not significantly alter the outcome). Clinton's camp may call it a boutique state that sips lattes, but she can personally kiss my ass over that one, when shes done slobbering over McCain first of course. On the other side of the country, much to the fear of Republicans, Bill Foster might just win a victory in northern Illinois, a seat held by none other than ex-Speaker and all around Mr. Dennis "Nastiness" Hastert. Now both victories are great in my eyes, but the best news of the day came from Southern California.

From RawStory:

SAN DIEGO—Military security contractor Blackwater Worldwide has pulled its plans to build a training facility in a remote area about 45 miles east of San Diego.

Company project manager Brian Bonfiglio said in a letter submitted Friday to the San Diego County planning department that the site near the small community of Potrero no longer meets Blackwater's business needs.

"After examining the capacity of our existing facilities and our business development goals, we have decided not to pursue plans for a training campus in Potrero," Bonfiglio wrote.

The company had planned to convert a former chicken ranch into a camp that would host weeklong training courses for law enforcement and military personnel. The initial proposal for Blackwater West included 11 firing ranges, a driving track and a helipad in a valley tucked into rocky desert mountains.[...]

The company had said the Potrero camp would be an ideal complement to its headquarters in Moyock, and a satellite training center in Mount Carroll, Ill., about 150 miles west of Chicago. The site is a short drive from San Diego and its array of military bases and federal law-enforcement field offices—including U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Border Patrol.

So it went from ideal to unfeasible just like that eh? Nothing to do with the large outcry in Potrero that led to a 180 degree switch in the town's leadership? Sure buddy. I'll believe that right after I come to realize that you run a reputable operation over there in Iraq.

Congratulations to the people of Potrero that put in the hard work and effort to repulse these mercenaries from setting up shop in their town.

When Is Enough Enough For Blackwater?

While we pay our troops shit for serving over in Iraq, Blackwater mercenaries have been making ridiculous amounts of money with no shortage of controversy. First it was the four contractors killed in Falluja and then we found out they killed civilians without a care in the world. Plenty of outrage was expressed, by the American people and even some in the Congress. At one point even their overlords at the State Department said they'd do something about the problem. Of course that was just a bunch of hot air.

Now we have discovered that Blackwater "accidentally" gassed our own troops. You want outrage? You got it. Accusations? They're coming. You want something to actually be done about it? We'll see.

From The NY Times:

Suddenly, on that May day in 2005, the copter dropped CS gas, a riot-control substance the American military in Iraq can use only under the strictest conditions and with the approval of top military commanders. An armored vehicle on the ground also released the gas, temporarily blinding drivers, passers-by and at least 10 American soldiers operating the checkpoint.

“This was decidedly uncool and very, very dangerous,” Capt. Kincy Clark of the Army, the senior officer at the scene, wrote later that day. “It’s not a good thing to cause soldiers who are standing guard against car bombs, snipers and suicide bombers to cover their faces, choke, cough and otherwise degrade our awareness.”

Gassing our own troops with a chemical that has been banned by international treaty is a war crime. Forget "uncool," these mercenaries should be tried in the Hague. So should the people that give them political cover from the Bush Administration. Blackwater's PR machine was quick to react of course, saying “It seems a CS gas canister was mistaken for a smoke canister and released near an intersection and checkpoint.”

Excuse me? They mistook them for smoke canisters? Are you f*%ing joking? What about the armored vehicle on the ground? Looks like that press release forgot to address ALL of the facts.

I'm sure there will be a modification to that statement, so that they can escape blame and "earn" some more of those billion dollar contracts. Where the hell is the accountability here? Congressman Waxman, these killers need to be stopped, the privatization of our military is going to destroy the institution. Put Blackwater, CACI, Halliburton and the rest out of business and let the military do its job.

Merry Christmas From Your Favorite Bloodthirsty Mercenaries

I know Christmas is technically over, people are stuffed full of ham and other Christmas noshes. Others are busy shopping their brains out looking for discounts and driving up their credit card debt. It is a busy time of year indeed, but also one for reflection and cheery pats on the back. Yule time as they say, right? Well the good folks at Blackwater USA want to join in on the good cheer and show how much they care. So try not to let your nausea get the best of you with this.

From TPM Muckraker:

Some excerpts:

GIVING... is something with which all Peace Keepers are very familiar... Giving time in ways that most do not understand... Giving up pleasures and presence of family to patrol streets, conflicts and battlefields... Giving up comforts that most take for granted... Giving companionship to a fellow Peace Keeper because you are together in the same endeavor at home and on foreign fields... Giving support to those in need of assistance... Giving life and limb, risking injury or death, so that the people they love and care for may continue to live in peace and safety in their world.

Of course, T.X. Hammes and other actual defense experts don't believe Blackwater and the U.S. military "are together in the same endeavor." Rather, Blackwater's wilding out makes things worse for the U.S. military in Iraq. But in Moyock, NC, nothing says Christmas like cynical exploitation of the troops!

These are the Peace Keepers... These are my Parish...

We are in a season of good wishes and good cheer for most of us. Peace Keepers have to be just as vigilant this season as in any other season. Evil and tragedy do not take the day or the season off... but indeed they are ever present... and must be resisted at all times.

[snip]

Peace Keepers you have loved me without even knowing that I existed... You have loved to the highest degree of which the human being is capable... You have laid your life and being on the line of defense between good and evil and you do all that you can to stop evil where you are... and rush to the scene when you are not already there...

There is more in there, but frankly that is all I can bear, especially with my still-full stomach. Peace keepers eh? More like peace disrupters, deliverers of evil and as for laying down lives....well so what if they are innocent Iraqis, for Blackwater, it is all about the spoils of war.

The only thing those bastards give is heartache, loss of loved ones and misery across Iraq. They take far more.

Fighting Blackwater In Your Own Backyard

The stories from Iraq are disgusting, shady deals with the government, indiscriminate killings, its enough to make you sick. The mercenary company that is Blackwater has a had a financial windfall in the last few years of war and now they are looking to expand. A training base was set to open in the small border town of Potrero, CA but the citizens there think otherwise.

O' Brother Where Art Thou?

Blackwater Wanted By U.N. For War Crimes

Although the State Department is reviewing its policies about contractors in the wake of the Blackwater massacre last month, justice seems slow in coming or not at all for those mercenaries that slaughtered 17 civilians and wounded dozens. While the Bush Administration does nothing, Iraqis are going to court and the U.N. is demanding that the perpetrators be tried for war crimes.

From Yahoo News:

The killing of 17 Iraqis in a shooting involving U.S. security firm Blackwater last month has created tensions between Baghdad and Washington and sparked calls for tighter controls on private contractors, who are immune from prosecution in Iraq.

Ivana Vuco, the U.N.'s senior human rights officer in Iraq, told a news conference that private security contractors were still subject to international humanitarian law.

"Investigations as to whether or not crimes against humanity, war crimes, are being committed and obviously the consequences of that is something that we will be paying attention to and advocating for," she told a news conference.

Maybe this is one of the reasons why Bush and his neo-con friends hate the U.N. so much. Accountability and justice for American actions overseas? Bush doesn't even like those things here at home, let alone in Baghdad where he has set his cowboy friends loose on the country. We'll see if the U.N. can muster the strength to actually try these killers in a court of law.

Jim Webb Scares Joe Scarborough Straight On Blackwater

Watch how this "cowboy" does a 180 on his views about Blackwater once Senatory Jim Webb of Virginia comes on his show:

Condi Relents Over Blackwater

In a 180 degree maneuver, Secretary of State Rice overhauled the policy of how diplomatic convoys are guarded in Iraq. No longer will her pets at Blackwater have the right to guard visitors alone as they speed through town. Public and Congressional pressure was so overwhelming that the most stubborn Administration of all time has agreed to a change that gives more authority to our troops and less to mercenary groups, particularly Blackwater.

From The Los Angeles Times:

Under Rice's order, all convoys will be accompanied by official monitors from the department's Diplomatic Security Bureau, and video cameras will be mounted in vehicles. In addition, radio communication will be recorded and will be archived along with the video and electronic tracking data so diplomats can better review Blackwater's performance.

The order marks a sharp reversal for Rice and the State Department, which for weeks has maintained it has adequate controls in place to monitor Blackwater contractors, who accompany U.S. diplomatic officials as they travel in Iraq.

As recently as last week, John D. Negroponte, the department's second-highest official and the former U.S. ambassador to Iraq, defended the embassy's oversight of Blackwater, saying the contractor operated under strict standards monitored with "close" supervision by State officials.

Of course the State Department denies that supervision was inadequate before, so this must all just be a grand coincidence that the change is occurring now. The Pentagon has been up in arms (no pun intended) about the mercenary groups and soldiers talk about them as no other. The problem has been that there is no accountability when things go wrong. Often when there is an "unfortunate" incident, the State Department has covered up the tracks of Blackwater and others, such as the case of Andrew Moonen, who killed an Iraqi bodyguard while being intoxicated.

Things are FUBAR in Iraq, but when there is enough of an outcry, little bits of progress can be made. Though if it took that much effort to have a bit of supervision of Blackwater, what will it take to get the hell out of Iraq?

FBI Goes Independent In Iraq

When yesterday's news hit that the FBI would be investigating Blackwater's activities while being guarded by the enterprise under scrutiny many people got suspicious. Thankfully the FBI understood the obvious problem and get this, they fixed it. It is amazing that something can work in any department under the Federal government but alas, it can actually happen.

From RawStory:

"The FBI team deployed from Washington to assist the State Department in the investigation of the events of Sept. 16 will have any additional security needs provided by U.S. government personnel," Miller added.

"The plan had been for Blackwater to fill this role," an official briefed on the FBI mission told the News.

Yesterday, a senior official said, "What happens when the FBI team decides to go visit the crime scene? Blackwater is going to have to take them there."

Senate Judiciary Chairman Pat Leahy (D-VT) also wrote the bureau a letter deriding their decision to have Blackwater guard their own investigation. Dropping the firm, he said, "would help alleviate the appearance of a conflict of interest and hopefully contribute to the credibility of this investigation in the eyes of the Iraqi people."

With a little prodding from the Congress and using common sense, we can have accountability in our government. It may be hard to do at first since there has been zero accountability in recent years, but we can still reach for ideal situations to counter the ridiculous and criminal behavior that has been fostered under the Bush Administration.

Robert Greenwald Vs. Frank Gaffney On Blackwater

Olbermann On The Blackwater Investigation...And Cover Up

Another amazing story surrounding the Bush Administration, it is almost mind-numbing. Thankfully we have someone that can put this on primetime TV.

Media Ignores Romney's Connection To Blackwater

Mitt Romney hasn't said much of anything about the savage activities about Blackwater USA and he has a good reason not to. His counter-terrorism chief, Cofer Black works for them as Vice Chairman. Just a little conflict of interest if you know what I'm saying. Now why won't the news media talk about this side story?

From Media Matters:

In a September 17 article, the Associated Press reported that Iraq's Interior Ministry "ordered Blackwater USA, the security firm that protects U.S. diplomats, to stop work and leave the country after the fatal shooting of eight Iraqi civilians following a car bomb attack against a State Department convoy." The article noted that "vice chairman Cofer Black, a former director of the CIA's counterterrorism center, declined to comment when reached at his Virginia home." But there was no mention in the article that Black was named the head of Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney's counterterrorism policy advisory group on September 13, according to a press release that day from the Romney campaign. Similarly, in their coverage of Blackwater USA, none of the networks -- ABC, NBC, or CBS -- reported Romney's connections to Black during the nightly news broadcasts on September 17. Additionally, neither ABC's Good Morning America nor NBC's Today noted the connection in their reports during the broadcasts on September 18. The September 18 edition of CBS' The Early Show did not report on Blackwater USA at all.

The Romney campaign press release, which was noted by a September 13 Boston Globe article, quoted Black saying, "Governor Romney recognizes the threats before us and has already laid out the policies needed to give our men and women the tools they need to protect our country."

A September 17 Kansas City Star article reported on Romney's hiring of Black, but did not note Black's role as vice chairman of Blackwater USA.

As MM continues, only Ana Marie Cox mentioned it on her Time Magazine blog. A simple search on Google or Lexis-Nexis can bring up that interesting piece of Presidential campaigning news, yet everyone is stunningly silent. Maybe if Keith Olbermann mentions it, we can hear some echoes in the lame-stream media.

Blackwater's Trigger-Happy Mercenaries

Iraqis are furious at Blackwater USA over the incident involving them and several dead civilians, but the animosity did not start overnight. This rogue force (paid for by American taxpayers) was recorded to be in more firefights than any other "contractor" that provides similar services. There is no reason to believe that they are higher-priority targets than the rest of the mercenaries out there, so why are they so damn trigger happy?

From The New York Times:

The disclosure came as the Pentagon said Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates had sent a team of officials to Iraq to get answers to questions about the use of American security contractors there.

The State Department keeps reports on each case in which weapons were fired by security personnel guarding American diplomats in Iraq. Officials familiar with the internal State Department reports would not provide the actual statistics, but they indicated that the records showed that Blackwater personnel were involved in dozens of episodes in which they had resorted to force.

The officials said that Blackwater’s incident rate was at least twice that recorded by employees of DynCorp International and Triple Canopy, the two other United States-based security firms that have been contracted by the State Department to provide security for diplomats and other senior civilians in Iraq.

Since the information came through Bush Administration officials, we'll never learn why the statistics are so different between Blackwater and the rest. Blackwater officials obviously declined to comment as well.

The NY Times goes into more detail about their aggressive corporate culture, founder Erik Prince's ties to the Republican party and the subsequent lack of accountability. Blackwater employees get to do whatever the please without any repercussions. Of course nothing is 100 percent certain, but it seems that being a wealthy contributor to the Bushes and Republicans in general goes a long, long way towards getting whatever you want. Erik Prince certainly has learned that lesson quite well.

Condi Hearts Murderers Of Civilians

Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) wrote a letter to Rice yesterday to stop interfering with his work and that of Congress. Specifically she is hindering the investigations into Iraqi government corruption and the infamous Blackwater USA.

In case you don't know, Blackwater was almost thrown out of Iraq a few days back for an unprovoked attack on civilians, killing several. The Iraqi people are furious, but the U.S. (i.e. Condoleezza Rice) is pressuring them not to expel Blackwater from their large mercenary contracts. Blackwater is one of many "contractors" that make up an international force that outnumbers our troops in Iraq (roughly 180,000).

Rice does not want all this business to end, draining our treasury seems to be a prerogative of hers. Not only that, but many day to day operations would cease to exist because Blackwater does so many jobs. So she must have to work pretty hard with that political savvy of her in order to trick Congressman Waxman. So how is that going?

From The Washington Post:

"The scope of this prohibition is breathtaking," Waxman wrote to Rice, describing yesterday's staff interview with Vincent Foulk of the State Department's Office of Accountability and Transparency as "virtually worthless." The committee has scheduled a hearing for tomorrow on Iraqi government corruption.

A separate hearing, on Blackwater, is scheduled for next Tuesday. After reports last week that Blackwater employees guarding a U.S. diplomatic convoy in Baghdad had killed 11 Iraqi civilians, the committee asked the company for documents and requested the testimony of Erik Prince, chairman of Blackwater's parent company.

In a Monday letter, Blackwater attorney Stephen M. Ryan told the committee that the State Department had directed the company "not to disclose any information" regarding its Iraq security contract without prior department authorization in writing. "This contractual direction from the DOS is unambiguous," Ryan wrote.

Ryan enclosed a Sept. 20 State Department letter to Blackwater reminding that "all documents and information generated in the course of performance" of its contract "are fully subject to the control of the State Department."

Calling the department's position "wholly inappropriate," Waxman wrote that "unless the President is prepared to make an assertion of executive privilege over the Blackwater documents, the State Department has no authority to prevent their transmission to Congress."

Well technically thats true. Rice has no authority to pull this shit. Nevertheless, we don't really live in a democracy anymore. No matter how much kvetching Henry does, I doubt Condi or the White House will ever let him see the documents he (and the American people) desire.

Look At All The Progress In Baghdad, Wow!

Man, I had Petraeus pegged wrong. Not only are things going well, non-Iraqi civilians don't even have to go out anymore. Actually, they are being banned from traveling outside the Green Zone but hey, whats the difference? Apparently that little Blackwater incident that ended up killing several civilians angered the people of Iraq to such a degree that it is too dangerous to be anywhere in the country, except for maybe the Green Zone.

From The Huffington Post:

BAGHDAD — The United States on Tuesday suspended all land travel by U.S. diplomats and other civilian officials in Iraq outside Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone, amid mounting public outrage over the alleged killing of civilians by the U.S. Embassy's security provider Blackwater USA.

The move came even as the Iraqi government appeared to back down from statements Monday that it had permanently revoked Blackwater's license and would order its 1,000 personnel to leave the country _ depriving American diplomats of security protection essential to operating in Baghdad.

"We are not intending to stop them and revoke their license indefinitely but we do need them to respect the law and the regulation here in Iraq," government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh told CNN.

Details of the weekend shootings haven't been released, but the New York Times reported late Tuesday that a preliminary review by Iraq's Ministry of Interior found that violence erupted as Blackwater security guards fired at a car when it did not heed a policeman's call to stop, killing a couple and their infant.

Imagine that happening here? We'd be attacking every country in sight. Over there, its just another day, another atrocity committed by forces that aren't accountable to anyone. The Iraqis tried to look tough and expel Blackwater, but now they are being pressured to sit down and behave. How pathetic.